Shirt bundling rack



June 24, 1969 C N 3,451,558

SHIRT BUNDLING'RACK Filed March 21, 1967 FIG.

'INVENTOR EPHRA/M COHEN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,451,558 SHIRT BUNDLING RACK Ephraim Cohen, 2424 Sylvale Road, Baltimore, Md. 21209 Filed Mar. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 624,871 Int. Cl. A47f /04 US. Cl. 211-86 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rack for use in a shirt laundry on which the shirts can be supported in an orderly, stack arrangement for bundling the shirts and which carries the tie cords used to tie the shirts into the bundle. The rack comprises an upright removably mounted on a support which is clamped to the edge of a table. A shirt hanger rod is secured to the post at the top end thereof and extends radially from the post. The end of the hanger rod is curved upwardly and is adapted to support the shirts by placing the collars of the shirts over the curved end. A tie cord supporting rod extends transversely across the upper end of the post and is secured thereto. The supporting rod is perpendicular to both the post and the shirt hanger rod. A plurality of tie cord hanger pins extend outwardly and upwardly from the supporting rod at spaced points therealong. The tie cords are hung from the hanger pins.

Background In the commercial laundering of mens shirts, it is the practice to bundle a plurality of the dirty shirts together and place the bundle of shirts in the washing machine so that the shirts are washed as bundled. Bundling the shirts facilitates the handling of the shirts and also maintains together shirts belonging to the same customer and/or shirts which are to receive the same type of sta-rching. One manner of bundling the shirts is by a cord which is tied around the shirts. There has been recently developed a tying cord having a special hook at one end which permits ease of tying and untying the cord around the bundle of shirts.

After the shirts are washed, they are then pressed. Pressing is accomplished on a plurality of different machines, each of which presses a different portion of the shirt. The shirts are taken from the bundle and sequentially passed from one pressing machine to the next until the shirt is completely pressed and folded. To facilitate the handling of the shirts for the pressing operation, it is desirable that the washed shirts be arranged in a stacked relation with each shirt being placed in an orderly fashion on the next shirt in the bundle. This permits the operator of the first pressing machine to easily and quickly pick up each shirt of the bundle and place it on the machine. To expedite the entire laundering operation, it is desirable that the shirts be bundled with the shirts being arranged in the stacked manner. Thus, when the bundle of shirts is taken from the washing machine and the tie cord removed, the shirts are already properly arranged for the pressing operation.

Summary of invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a rack on which shirts to be laundered can be bundled With the shirts arranged in an orderly, stacked manner.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a rack on which shirts to be laundered can be bundled and the person bundling the shirts.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a rack for supporting shirts to be bundled and the tying cords and which includes means for supporting 3,451,558 Patented June 24, 1969 the rack on a table with the rack being removable from the supporting means so that the rack can be easily shifted from one supporting means to another.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a rack for supporting shirts to be bundled and the tying cords which includes means for supporting the rack on a table with the rack being pivotable on the support so that the rack can be pivoted to an out of the way position when the rack is not in use.

These objects are achieved by the rack of the present invention which comprises an upright post mounted on a clamp which is secured to a table. A hanger rod extends radially from the top end of the post and has a mounting arm at its back end which extends downwardly along the post. A pair of bolts extend through the mounting arm and the post to secure the hanger rod to the post. The front end of the hanger rod is curved upwardly and is adapted to support the shirts to be bundled by placing the collars of the shirts over the end of the hanger rod. A supporting rod extends transversely across the upper end of the post between the hanger rod mounting arm and the post and is substantially perpendicular to the post and the hanger rod. The supporting arm is clamped between the hanger rod mounting arm and the post at a point intermediate the ends of the supporting rod. A plurality of hanger pins extend from the supporting rod at spaced points therealong and extend in the same direction as the hanger rod. The hanger pins are adapted to support the tie cords thereon so that the tie cords are easily accessible for tying a bundle of shirts.

Brief description of the drawing For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the rack of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the top portion of the rack taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the supports for the rack taken along line 44 of FIGURE 1.

Description of invention Referring to FIGURE 1, the 'rack of the present invention is generally designated as 10 and is shown as being mounted on the edge of a table 12 by a support 14. Rack 10 comprises an upright, tubular post 16 having a cup-shaped cap 18 on its upper end. A shirt hanger rod 20 extends radially from the upper end of the post 16 and is substantially perpendicular thereto. The hanger rod 20 has a mounting arm 22 extending downwardly from its back end and along the post 16. As shown in FIG- URE 2, a pair of spaced bolts 24 extend through the mounting arm 22 and the post 16 and nuts 26 are threaded on the ends of the bolts 24 to secure the hanger rod 20 to the post 16. The front end of the hanger rod 20 has an S-shaped bend therein so that the front end 28 of the hanger rod is curved upwardly and a curved projection 30 is provided spaced from the front end. A cup-shaped cap 32 is provided on the front end of the hanger rod 20'.

A tying cord supporting rod 34 extends transversely across the upper end of the post 16 with the middle of the rod 34 fitting and clamped between the hanger rod mounting arm 22 and the post 16. The middle portion of the supporting rod 34 extends through a notch 36 in the back surface of the hanger rod mounting arm 22 to prevent tilting of the supporting rod. A small plate 38 is secured to the middle of the supporting rod 34 and extends upwardly between the hanger rod mounting arm 22 and the post 16. The upper bolt 24 extends through the plate 38 to further secure the supporting rod 34 to the post 16. A plurality of cord hanger pins 40 are secured in parallel, spaced relation to the supporting rod 34 and extend outwardly therefrom in the same direction as the hanger rod 20. The pins 40 extend upwardly as well as outwardly so that the cords will not slide off of the pins.

The support 14 comprises a C-clamp 42 which fits around the edge of a table 12 and is secured thereto by threading the screw 44 towards the bottom of the table. A tube 46 is secured to and extends along the vertical side of the C-clamp 42. A pin 48 is secured in the upper end of the tube 46 and projects upwardly beyond the upper end of the tube. The rack is mounted on the support 14 by placing the bottom end of the post 16 around the pin 48. Thus, the rack 10 is mounted in an upright position on the support 14 and the post 16 can pivot about the pin 48.

In the use of the rack 10 of the present invention, the rack is loaded with the tying cords 50 by placing the tying hooks 52 of the cords 50 over the hanger pins 40 as shown in FIGURE 1. A shirt 54 is mounted on the hanger rod 20 by placing the collar of the shirt over the front end 28 of the hanger rod with the front end of the hanger rod extended into the inside of the shirt. Additional shirts are then individually placed over the first shirt in the same fashion. When the desired number of the shirts 54 are arranged in stacked relation on the hanger rod 20, a cord 50 is removed from a hanger pin 40 and tied around the bodies of the shirts to bundle the shirts together. The bundle of the shirts is then removed from the hanger rod 20 and placed in the washing machine. After the shirts are washed, the bundle of washed shirts can be placed back on the rack 10 with the front end 28 of the hanger rod 20 extending under the collars of the shirts into the shirts. The cord 50 is untied from the bundle and placed back on a hanger pin 40. The shirts 54, which are still in an orderly stacked arrangement,

are ready for the pressing operation. When the rack 10 is not being used, the post 16 can be rotated to place the hanger rod 20 and hanger pins 40 in a position over the table 12 so that the rack is in an out of the way position.

In a large laundry, one of the racks 10 of the present invention can be mounted on a table at the place where the shirts enter the laundry. This rack would be loaded with the tying cords 50 and would be the bundling rack. A second rack 10 of the present invention can be mounted on a table adjacent either the washing machine or the pressing machines. This rack would be empty of the tying cords and would be an unbundling rack. When the tying cords on the bundling rack are used up and the unbundling rack is filled with the cords removed from the bundles of shirts, the two racks can be easily lifted from their supports and the position of the two racks exchanged. Thus, by having the racks removable from their supports, the racks can be used as a means for easily transferring the tying cords from the unbundling station to the bundling station.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof.

I claim:

1. A rack for bundling shirts comprising an upright post, a shirt hanger rod extending radially from the upper end of said post, a mounting arm on the back end of the hanger rod and extending downwardly along the post, a pair of spaced bolts extending through said mounting arm and the post, nuts threaded on the ends of the bolts to clamp the hanger rod to the post, a supporting rod extending transversely across the upper end of said post between the hanger rod mounting arm and the post and clamped therebteween at a point substantially intermediate the ends of the supporting rod, said supporting rod being substantially perpendicular to said post and said hanger rod, and a plurality of hanger pins extending from said supporting rod at spaced points therealong, said hanger pins extending in substantially the same direction as said hanger rod.

2. A rack in accordance with claim 1 in which the hanger rod mounting arm has a transverse notch across its back surface and the supporting rod fits in said notch.

3. A rack in accordance with claim 1 in which the free end of the hanger rod is curved upwardly.

4. A rack in accordance with claim 5 in which the hanger rod has an upwardly curved projection therein adjacent to but spaced from the upwardly curved free end.

5. A rack in accordance with claim 1 including means for supporting the post in an upright position on a table.

6. A rack in accordance with claim 5 in which the supporting means comprise a clamp adapted to be secured to the edge of a table and a pin secured to said clamp and extending vertically upwardly therefrom, and the post has a socket on its bottom end which receives said pin so that the post is removably mounted on said supporting means and'can rotate about said pin around a vertical axis.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,000,933 8/1911 North 211103 X 1,259,623 3/1918 Herrick 211 1,306,297 6/1919 Auerochs 211-10 2,005,290 6/ 1935 Fussenegger 21186 2,283,205 5/ 1942 Harris 211-103 2,472,410 6/ 1949 Ferrell 248-97 2,840,241 6/ 1958 Callais 21186 3,044,630 7/1962 Szabo 211-86 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,231,471 4/ 1960 France.

243,090 2/ 1912 Germany.

172,480 12/ 1921 Great Britain.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

R. D. KRAUS, Assistant Examiner. 

